THIS INVENTION relates to an aid for assisting a golfer in improving his game.
Golf, more than any other sport, requires that when the ball is struck, it be struck perfectly each time. There is little margin for error. Failure to strike the bail correctly is at least going to result in the ball travelling less than the optimum distance and at worst is going to mean that it will diverge from the intended track so substantially as to fall out of bounds.
The stance of the body, the way in which it moves during swinging of the club, and the path followed by the club all contribute to a perfect swing.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a golf aid which includes a horizontal bar, an anchorage attached to the bar and movable along the bar, and a flexible connector for connecting said anchorage to a golf club.
Said bar can be hollow and have an elongate slot therein, said anchorage comprising an element which is within the hollow bar, the flexible connector passing through said slot.
Said slot is preferably wider at its ends than over that portion thereof which lies between the wider ends, said element being too large to pass through the smaller dimension central section of the slot but small enough to emerge from the slot from said end portions.
Said bar may be the cross bar of a substantially rectangular frame.
Said frame may have a support frame positioned or positionable at an angle to the frame for permitting said frame to stand upon a surface, optionally having one or more strut provided between said frame and said support frame.
In one embodiment the support frame is pivotally mounted to the frame to permit the folding and unfolding thereof.
In another embodiment the support frame is removable from the frame.
Said frame can also carry protruding elements, there being friction means for holding said elements in positions in which they protrude from the bar.
Typically, at least some of said elements lie in the path of the club being swung in an arc adjacent the bar.
The frame may be provided with further protruding elements which indicate to a user the correctness of his stance, the parameters of his swing of the golf club and the alignment of his body relative to the ball.
The frame may include upright bars protruding upwardly from the frame.
The upright bars may be configured to assist the user in assuming the correct posture before performing a swing of the golf club. Like wise, the upright bars may assist the user in maintaining the correct posture during and/or after performing the swing.
The upright bar may have one or more strut like projections locatable between the upright bar and the horizontal bar. The strut like projections may be pivotably rotatable about a pivot point located adjacent an end of the upright bar.
The invention extends to a golf aid which includes detecting means for detecting the passage of a portion of a golf club, for example, when it is being swung towards or away from a golf ball.
The detecting means may be in the form of one or more proximity switches configured to detect the metallic portion of a golf club. However, the detecting means may be optical detecting means relying on the absorption or reflection of light by the golf club to detect its passage. Even further, the detecting means may rely on a beam of light being broken by the passage of the golf club between a light emitting and a light receiving portion of the detecting means.
At least some of the detecting means may be positioned on the protruding elements or on the upright bars.
However, some of the detecting means may be positioned on the frame itself or even on additional support platforms connected to said frame or said support frame.
Those skilled in the art will realise that there are may other methods for detecting passage of the golf club during the swing, for example, such as the image system of JVC(trademark) Video Systems 900, 1300 and 2000, which record the users actions and permit analysis thereof and advice thereon.
According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a horizontal bar for a golf aid, said horizontal bar including an anchorage attached to the bar and movable along the bar, and a flexible connector for connecting said anchorage to a golf club.
Typically such a horizontal bar would be provided for in D-I-Y format for constructing a golf aid as described above.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of aiding a user to achieve the correct posture or position for playing golf, the method including the step of guiding the body of a user between a number of guide points so as to achieve and/or maintain the correct posture or position.
The method may include the step of restricting the displacement of potions of the body of a user within pre-set parameters and, optionally, indicating to the user when those parameters have been violated.
The method may include restraining the body of a user within the pre-set parameters.